


Hell Loop

by chaolix



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Angst, Attempted Murder, Chan leads a double life, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Language, Han Jisung | Han & Kim Seungmin are Best Friends, Hitman!Hyunjin, How Do I Tag, Kim Seungmin-centric, Kinda, M/M, hyunjin is literally hired to kill seungmin, mafia, mentions of abuse, rich kid seungmin, seungmin has issues, seungmin is a smartass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29905380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaolix/pseuds/chaolix
Summary: Seungmin as the son of owners of one of the biggest companies in South Korea, is seriously sick of the hopeless routine he has fallen into - appearing perfect, staright A's, being the child that every parents would wish for, not causing any problems his entire life. He craves adrenaline, which gives him a brilliant idea of putting up a game on the dark web - try to kill him. He surely will feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he tries to escape the hitman he has hired, won't he?
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	1. The Last Drink

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warning for attempted murders. it is very likely that more tw's will follow as the story progresses, however i will make sure to put them in the notes at the begining of the chapter where they appear!

“How’s school honey?” a muffled voice could be heard through the phone. A brown haired boy was laying on his bed, looking meaninglessly at the ceiling in his bedroom, trying to forget that his economics textbook was laying open on his desk next to his bed, waiting to be read. “Ah, you know mom, the usual” he sighed, tired, “My business professor asked if I wanted to participate in some stupid competition, and I have economy test tommorow, but I’m seriously considering not going”.

Seungmin was a straight A student - always studying for the tests, exams, doing extra homework. He learned piano when he still went to highschool, was clean and rarely fell back on anything - the perfect son that his parents could introduce without any shame to their colleagues or other friends. He never once complained about anything, he knew his parents wanted the best for him and loved him dearly; they just didn’t have that much time to spend to bond with him as a family. Not that he actually minded being home alone more often than not - he liked the peace and the freedom it gave him. Inviting someone over was never an issue, he could go out whenever he pleased, do whatever things came to his mind.

“Well, did you accept the offer?” she asked expectedly, and Seungmin could almost see the impatience that was painted on her face. “No.” He got up with a small groan, bored. He knew that he could easily occupy himself with something; either was that that damned economy test or watching some cliche movie. But why would he? It all was just plainly boring. Nothing brought him joy anymore, even getting an A on a really hard test he just brushed away, as it was some kind of celebrity dating rumour - it just… happened. 

“And why would you do that? It could be a great opportunity! Also, did you not study for the economy test? You know how important your grades are” Seungmin stayed silent, closing his economics textbook and putting it away on his bookshelf; he most definitely won’t be attending the test. “Seungmin.” He still didn’t answer, he just simply didn’t want to. He never really cared about his grades that much; of course, getting an A once upon a time was indeed a small satisfaction, but he was mainly doing it for his parents, so that they wouldn’t think bad about him. Now, living on his own, he didn't care at all. He had his own job, which he didn’t tell his parents about - being a trust-fund baby is really beneficial after all. He didn’t exactly need the job per say - he was simply bored. 

Boredom. The center of Seungmin’s problems. Everything was the same, old, disgusting routine. Re-heating the same meal for dinner everyday finally, after twenty years became almost unbearable, Seungmin was on his breaking point. How could people live this way for the entirety of forty, fifty years? Did they truly enjoy it? Was he the broken one? The one that can’t do the same thing twice without the dread? He couldn’t bear repeating himself since he was a child - doing the same would usually end up in him throwing a huge tantrum, until he finally understood - that’s how people live this thing called life. They just want to stick to the safe road - the one where there aren’t any holes in the cement, constantly are signs of where to go. Smooth, pleasant ride, with small bumps every once and then. 

Seungmin never understood the society’s choice. Where’s the fun? Where’s the thrill? They exactly know the ending of the said road - calm elderhood, with grandchildren, major career achievements at their feet, which, at the end of the day - don’t matter so much. The only stories to tell from their young age are about the times where the teacher in their math class accidentally said a curse word out loud. 

“Seungmin!” his mother raised her voice, to which he only rolled his eyes. “What?” he scoffed, walking to the kitchen. He was seriously hungry, but didn’t want to cook anything - not that he was some sort of a masterchef, Seungmin barely could make scrambled eggs without burning them. Since no one cared that much to teach him how to cook, he also didn’t bother - why would he if there was always someone to do it for him? Now, living alone, he mainly survived on boxed meals or take-out. It’s not like he didn’t know how to do anything in the kitchen - he knew the basics, however, he still needed to google a time period of cooking an egg.

“Just don’t make us disappointed” he heard, before the sound of an ended call. “I would never, mother” he laughed, not sure why. He always did something that they told him to. To make them proud. To make their friends envious. To prove a point that he, in fact, is worth more than a typical human being.

The saddening thing is that he realised not so long ago, that he, if truth be told, was indeed not better than anyone. Sure, he could have better grades, better room, better clothes, even so, he himself was not worth that much, he was the same as others, trying to make it through life like it was something incredibly hard. Finishing high school with amazing grades, saying “no” to drugs, not being involved in any other illegal activities, going to college, getting a decent job that paid just enough to pay the bills and fill his plate up - he was basically done. It was like still playing the game despite completing all of the quests. What was after that? Marrying some girl his age, watching her suffer in pain for a couple of hours, just to pop out a kid that will annoy his ass for at least ten years, and draining his bank account along with taking his sanity away for the next fifteen. Does not sound so cool.

After that, you just rot to death, if you didn’t die sooner due to some unfortunate circumstances. Everyone is always mourning over the death of their loved ones, hoping they didn’t end up in hell. Seungmin, however, just wishes them a happy afterlife, because they have just escaped one big hell-loop. Everything here stays the same, the same pattern, the same idiotic world issues. Afterlife? No one knows. But Seungmin is sure of one thing - even if you do end up in some dystopian place after you’ve been proven not to be immortal, it will be better than this. It’s not that he hates his life and wants to kill himself, he hates the socially accepted life pattern and doesn’t see death as something so bad. Why couldn’t he at least have fun and die young? Something so entertaining, that he finally wouldn’t want to commit a violent crime for the short-lasting thrill of it and rot in jail for the rest of his life. Something that wouldn’t let him off the hook. 

As he tapped on his phone to pay for some meal that was meant to be delivered in twenty minutes, he thought of something. That idea was more than insane, it was literally a death wish. But Seungmin already came to terms with the fact that he was an adrenaline junkie a long time ago, and he would do whatever he could to feel that thrill til the end of his days. Quite literally.

He had Tor Browser downloaded on his computer for quite some time now, thinking that maybe it would solve his boredom (Spoiler alert; it didn’t). He knew his way around there, he knew where to look for certain things, and most importantly - where not to look, ever. 

He sat down in front of his monitor, quickly typing in the keywords into the browser. He clicked on just the right thing, smiling maniacally. Maybe he really was mentally unstable, but he didn’t care enough to make that concern him. He could already feel the excitement filling his bones, hands cold and shaky, just how he liked it. Heart beating faster with each written word, the rational part of his brain was yelling in agony, trying to make the stupid idea go away before it was too late, however, Seungmin didn’t listen to it. Not this time. It was time to make a decision fully following his heart. That was what everybody was talking about, right? Follow your heart.

“45,000,000 won. Try to kill me. Do not take this as a joke, but also not as some kind of order - it will be more of a game than anything. The main rule is: you can kill me, but I can’t kill you. Message me only if you are seriously considering.”

As he hit ‘Enter’ he started to laugh. He really was stupid, wasn’t he? Asking for his own death. Something in his gut was telling him that this will be the best experience of his life. 

He didn’t ask for death straight away. He wanted to play, without knowing the outcome. The awfully long hide and seek game would finally cause him to think about something else than the boring classes and bills. He was ready to put the ‘naturally smart and intelligent child’ to the real test - was he able to outsmart a literal hitman?

Kim Seungmin was finally excited for something for once.

"Jisung~" 

"What do you want? It's nine in the evening for fuck's sake!" his friend raised his voice, visibly annoyed by the sudden call. Although the blue-haired boy acted like he was mad, Seungmin knew he wasn't. He always pretended to be salty and just plainly annoyed with everything and everyone, but when Seungmin needs him, his attitude changes within a span of one second. "Wanna come over to drink? I'm paying." 

"Of course you are paying, asshat. I'll be there in twenty minutes, order some food for me cause ya boy ain't drinking on an empty stomach" Seungmin didn’t even get to protest, since Jisung already hung up - not that he actually needed to. He already knew he doesn’t stand a chance at arguing with him about food - what Han wanted, Han got. Brown haired boy didn’t really see the issue with this - he had money and wasn’t cheap - His best friend could ask him for a new phone and Seungmin although would act mad, could get it for him without a second thought. Jisung never actually used him for money, though. He could eat his food all he wanted, but he always found a way to pay him back - either it was a sudden hand-made gift or food he actually made himself. “Always the same shit.” Seungmin said, smiling slightly. He opened some food-delivery app and ordered the identical meal he got for himself a couple minutes ago, alongside some cheesecake - Jisung’s favourite dessert. 

Kim never expected Jisung to pay him back for anything - he knew that blue haired boy didn’t have anything material to pay him back with, and even if he did, it wouldn’t matter to Seungmin. To other people it could be seen as Jisung using his friend for his own benefits, however, Seungmin within his twenty year life span got to know who to trust, and Jisung was one of those people. He had people using him purely for the gifts, and not seeing him as just Seungmin. It was always “Kim Seungmin, the son of the Rune company owners”. His parents were always associated with him, a little bit too much for his liking.

Han Jisung was the first person to approach him in a more "human"(not really) way – he insulted him the first time they've met. As hilarious as it might sound, when Seungmin shot back with another insult, it was like they both pushed a "soulmate" button. They clicked instantly, it didn't take them long to put a best friends label on their relationship, much to Jisung's surprise. 

The blue haired boy didn't exactly grow up alone, but he wasn't a social butterfly either. Up until he met Seungmin, he didn't really have someone that he could call a friend - all of the people he knew were like acquaintances to him. He would hang out with them every now and then, but nothing more. No late night talks, no gossiping, no anything about something even slightly personal. His parents weren’t affectionate towards him, so he just figured out that everything was just supposed to be that way - keeping everything to himself, nobody was supposed to know everything that went on in his life, only the fun parts, which made him distant towards everybody. Seungmin, after quite some time, managed to soften freshman school Jisung a little bit. He got him out of his comfort zone and popped his little safety bubble. Although it may seem like nothing has changed in their behaviour since they met, this was far from the truth - because, at the end of the day, it is the inner growth that matters. 

“Ayo what’s up Seungmo!” he heard a familiar voice as the sound of slammed doors spread through his apartment.

Let’s say that Jisung never really learned how to properly close any door. 

“Take off your shoes, I cleaned today,” Seungmin said as he slowly walked towards the hallway, a smile manifesting itself on his face. “Come on, it happened one time! I was just excited, I told you it won’t happen again!”

“It better fucking not, I had to buy a new rug because of your muddy shoes,” he rolled his eyes, and went on to hug his best friend. “How did your trip go?” he asked, rocking them on the sides.

“Ah you know, the classic. Mom was complaining about why I don’t live with her, although she knows damn well why. I got some bomb-ass food and, of course, she persuaded me into painting her cat, which i gotta do by the end of the month,” he complained, letting go of Seungmin. “When is food coming?”

“Should be in about five minutes, I think,” the latter answered, walking back to the living room, where he crashed onto the couch, Jisung following his steps. “What are we drinking?” the blue haired boy asked, looking through his backpack.

“I don’t know, I’m just in the mood to black out, I guess” Seungmin looked at the other boy, raising his eyebrow in question as to what was he doing. He was used to Jisung doing some… rather questionable things, but he always had to ask, even if he didn't get the answer. Sometimes, Jisung would just go out of his way to come to his apartment, stick a sticky note with a drawn smile to Seungmin’s forehead (which caused Seungmin to almost have a heart attack), spin around like a lost sim in the The Sims game, not say anything, and leave, not answering any of Seungmin’s questions. It was just such a Jisung thing to do. 

“Watch out” Jisung said and quickly pulled out a white t-shirt from his backpack, throwing it at Seungmin’s face, causing him to blink twice, trying to comprehend what just happened.

If you want to play a murder game, you have to get better at your reflexes, Seungmin.

He looked down at the piece of clothing, which was now laying on his lap. He picked it up, turning it around after noticing something on the front. The white material had a black outline of bats flying towards the moon. The embroidery was carefully made, Seungmin could see that a lot of work was put into it - just like any other Jisung’s creation. He touched the pattern softly, as if it was supposed to somehow break and turn into ashes in his hands. 

“Thank you, Jisung, it’s beautiful. You didn’t-”

“Oh just shut up and wear it like the rest” Jisung cut him off with a whine, rolling his eyes. He didn’t know how to take compliments at all (not that Seungmin knew), and preferred a quick ‘thanks’ followed by moving on to the next subject as quickly as possible. This isn’t the first piece of clothing that the brown-haired boy got from him. He had a couple of them in his closet already, but he could never get enough of them. He wore them proudly, and did his absolute best not to stain any of them. He never would say it out loud, but he loved every single thing that Jisung has ever given to him. Each painting, each piece of clothing, every single gift he has ever received, he treasured like the greatest thing in his life. “Also, vodka sounds like a choice I would go for, then”

The sudden ring of the intercom caused Jisung to jump out of surprise, only to look at Seungmin knowingly. The boy got up with a sigh, and went to pick up the food from the delivery person, whom he tipped well, noticing that it was more likely than not, an exhausted highschool student. He knew how tired part timers were ever since Jisung started to work for a restaurant in their senior year - the poor boy almost never had the time to breathe, trying to manage his school, job, and pursue his art passion while also attempting to keep his social life at a somewhat decent level, not to go insane.

“I see you’ve already made yourself at home,” Seungmin scoffed, placing the food onto the kitchen table, while looking at Jisung, who was searching through his glass cabinet, seeking the strong alcohol they’ve talked about earlier. 

“Don’t act like I’m not basically your roommate at this point,” the blue haired boy said, taking out a bottle of vodka, a smile creeping on his face. “Let’s get the party started, Mr. Seungmin.”

After three hours of yelling to the music at the top of their lungs, numerous shots and even bigger amounts of food, they could officially say that they were drunk, but not as much as they wanted. They both could hold their drinks really well, which resulted with them being unsatisfied and going to the liquor shop in the middle of the night. 

It wasn’t uneventful, considering that Seungmin lived in Itaewon. 

As they were going back, with another bottle of vodka in Jisungs hand, they stumbled upon a group of tipsy boys their age, and since they were also in a very similar condition, they decided to become friends with them, which ended at some club and sneaking in a bunch of teenagers. Seungmin tried to get the most of this night, keeping at the back of his mind that it might be his last night out. Seungmin made friends with almost all of the people at the club, Jisung following him around, and speaking up only if he had his best friend by his side. It’s not that he wasn’t having fun, his mostly introverted soul just didn’t enjoy talking to strangers without analyzing some key points about them.

“I’m going to die Jisung!” Seungmin yelled through the loud music, as they were jumping next to each other, trying not to fall from alcohol pumping through their veins. Jisung looked at him, smiling.

“Don’t exaggerate homeboy, you’re not even that drunk!” he laughed and pushed him a little, which resulted in Seungmin almost falling down onto the dance floor if it wasn’t for Jaemin - one of the boys they met that night. Seungmin also laughed, deciding not to tell Jisung anything else. He didn’t want him to get paranoid, or worse - stop him. 

He decided to live the moment fully, just like any other night out they had. Nothing mattered, as he was feeling the rush of adrenaline, alcohol making him dizzy. He didn’t care about tomorrow - he had to learn to live life as it was in the present moment. The tomorrow could not come - it wasn’t something granted anymore. If he wanted to do something, he had to do it now, not later. Even if it was kissing some boy that he thought was pretty in the middle of the club, even if it was dancing Waltz with Jisung to some EDM music, even if it meant going on some random roof with Jisung at six am in the morning. 

“You know what Seungmin? I truly hate and love you at the same time, man” the blue haired boy said, as he crashed onto Seungmin’s bed. Kim closed the curtains, and stood beside the bed. 

“If this is a real love confession I might have to disappoint you” Seungmin said, bending over to open the zipper of Jisung’s blue jeans, while he could still hold his balance. “ I’m going to take off your pants because you ain’t sleeping in these on my bed mister.”

“Ew, I didn’t mean it in that way” Jisung fake gagged, raising his hips up as high as his drunk self could, to help Seungmin with undressing him. After Jisung’s pants were on the floor, Seungmin almost collapsed on the bed. “You need help with these, too?” he pointed at his black jeans.

“Yeah, I can’t quite get up from this position,” he laughed, finding the whole situation incredibly hilarious. He was holding himself up on his arms on bed, while his legs were almost giving up, standing on the floor still. “Don’t fucking touch my penis you pervert!” Seungmin yelled, as Jisung somehow managed to open the zipper and pull his pants down a little bit.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, motherfucker. You’re gross,” he said, arms falling back onto bed. “It’s the best I can do.” Seungmin couldn’t hold himself anymore and collapsed on Jisung, making him groan out of the sudden weight. “Get off me asshat, I’m going to sleep” he said, trying to throw him off, with the minimum amount of strength he had left. 

“I’m fucking trying leave me alone” the latter said, managing to roll over to the other side of the bed, kicking off his pants. He sighed out of relief, making himself as comfortable as he could get.

“Goodnight, baby” Han said, laughing a little.

“Sweet dreams, honey” Seungmin answered, kicking him in the leg.


	2. The Last Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungmin gets a response.

Couple days went by, and Seungmin was getting impatient. No response, he was slowly losing hope for the game, that was supposed to help him live to the fullest. With the constant adrenaline, in almost every second of the day - instead he got nothing. He was excited for the first couple of days, thinking that the first candidate would message him, like in some kind of job interview. Turns out, not everyone is as insane and bored as him.

Once again, Seungmin got tired as hell. He got back in the same loop of school-study-eat-sleep. Everyday for a week, he came back from his college classes and the moment he got home, he turned his computer on, quickly going on the Tor Browser, checking whether someone responded or not. Each day he was getting less and less confident about his idea - in his mind, it sounded like the perfect plan for the rest of his life, but in reality, it didn’t even come close to being perfect, it seems.

Monday. The first day of yet another dreadful week. After his morning classes he had to go to work, only to be yelled at at least four times during one shift - because how dare he make coffee two degrees colder than ordered? After work, he will go home and complain about life again. Order the same, now almost tasteless food, open some textbook about something he doesn’t even care about, only to write some big words on the meaningless piece of paper, just so that he could be praised on how he is really smart and he never let teachers down.

“Hello, what can I get for you today?” he asked, his customer service smile plastered on his face. “ Oh! Hi Chan!” he said as he recognized his blonde friend. The twenty three year old returned the smile, scratching his neck with his left hand. 

“Hi Seungmin, when do you finish?” the older asked, looking at the menu behind Seungmin at the same time.

“In thirty minutes, I think. You getting anything? ‘Cause the lady behind you is almost killing me with her eyes,” the barista asked quietly, trying to relax under the intimidating stare of the mean-looking woman behind his friend.

“Ah, yes, sorry. Can I have some iced americano? The small one,” Chan said, playing with his leather wallet.

“Since when do you drink americano?” Seungmin asked in a little shock, typing in the order on his cashier screen.

“Oh, I don’t,” the blonde laughed a little bit, earning a playful stare from Seungimin. He handed him a 10,000 won bill. “Keep the rest,” he smiled, and walked towards one of the free tables in the cafe. 

Chan was truly one of a mystery to Seungmin. He just appeared in his life half a year ago, out of nowhere, and became his close friend. Bang had this strange aura around him, which caused everyone to trust him easily - he was a people magnet. He seemed to know everyone in Seoul, in every place he would go, he would know someone.   
The brunette didn’t really know what Chan did for a living - he would always avoid the subject, or reply with an “ah you know, some side hustle here and there”. It clearly wasn’t some side hustle, considering he could afford a designer and his own apartment without the help of his parents. Seungmin didn’t want to press on him, however something in him could tell that it was for sure something illegal. There was no way that he did something legal that would bring him that much income and hide it, and Seungmin was fine with that. He himself thrived for breaking the law, doing it himself a few times - just for the adrenaline rush. 

The only ordinary thing that has brought Seungmin even a little bit of joy, was his (a little unnecessary) job. Something about brewing the coffee and making different flavors of it made him unexpectedly calm. It was like the world had stopped, it was just him and the coffee he was making. It all made up for the yelling he was going through on a daily basis, everything just disappeared in that exact same moment. It wasn’t something that could make up for his adrenaline addiction, however, it could make him forget about the same routine he was in a loop of every single day.

In spite of being a pretty selfish human being, considering how he was brought up, he liked making other people smile even for a split second while accepting their coffee order and handing their drink to them, wishing them an amazing day. Sometimes, when he was in a very good mood, he would bring his sticky notes to work, only to write some positive messages to stick them to people’s cups - but not to the cups of the mean ladies. He absolutely despised women aged above thirty, because most of them were just plainly looking to release the anger built up from their unsatisfying marriage or the lack of any love life. Some of them were really sweet, tipped him well, which while he didn’t necessarily need, appreciated a lot. 

“Small americano for Chan!” his co-worker shouted, which caused the said boy to erase the frown from his face, probably created by someone whom he was so aggressively texting on his phone. The second he looked at the dark skinned girl, he smiled genuinely, getting up from his seat to get his unusual drink. 

As the queue disappeared, the Seungmin had a moment to breathe, since he was the one handling customers at the moment. He looked at Chan, silently staring at his iced americano, looking like he was contemplating his life choices - and Seungmin was not surprised. He knew that Chan didn’t drink strong coffee - he usually ordered a caramel macchiato or something similar. He watched the blonde as he grabbed the plastic cup and took a small sip from it. His curious face almost instantly changed into a grimace, and he put the cup down, most likely deciding not to drink it again. Seungmin silently started laughing, making his way to the express, deciding to make Chan the coffee he knew he liked. 

“There you go, tough boy,” Seungmin laughed, placing a caramel macchiato in front of his bitter friend. The blonde looked up and smiled at the barista.

“Thanks” he said while grabbing another cup and taking a sip from his (this time - better) coffee.

“I finish in like, ten minutes now, so just wait here,” The brunette told the latter, returning back behind the counter.

The time passed pretty quickly, as there were only three new customers to take care of. Seungmin made himself some coffee in his spare time, and as the clock hit half past six, he got up from the stool and went to the back to take off his apron and grab his stuff. As he opened the back door, he could feel Chan’s stare upon him, however when they lockey eyes, the heavy feeling disappeared, and the older smiled again. 

There was something about him that nobody ever could figure out. His presence was calming and very intimidating at the same time - two totally different feelings combined. There was indeed something that nobody knew, and Seungmin has known for a very long time that even if they are very close friends, Chan would not tell him anything too personal. Sure, he could share things that went on in his past, but the topic of his suspicious actions was always left without access for everyone.

“What’s up?” Seungmin asked, sitting down on the couch in front of him.

“Ah, you know, running errands here and there can be quite tiring,” he laughed. “Other than that, nothing’s really going on, and I just wanted to kind of catch up with you, you know? We haven’t seen each other in almost three weeks!”

“Well don’t blame me, you’re the one busy keeping up with your secret not-so secret business, Chan. You’re the one that is unavailable most of the time I wanna meet up,” Seungmin said, raising his eyebrow at the confused face of the other.

“Not-so secret?” he asked, kind of confused, but still calm. The younger however knew that inside, Chan was almost screaming. Because of all the boredom in his life, he started watching people closely at a very young age. Even when someone was super secretive and could hide emotions almost perfectly, Seungmin always saw through people. After years of practice it became really easy for him - even the slightest eye twitch could sell a person out. Chan was incredibly good at acting calm and collected all the time, but he had his own little signals, which Seungmin caught on shortly after they met.

“Don’t freak out now, tough boy. I don’t know anything about your little secret double life shit, I just know it’s for sure something illegal,” he commented as it was obvious. He was honestly surprised that Chan didn’t get used to his little comments already - he always said something about his secret “side hustle”, but his reaction was always the same - confusion and incredible amount of stress building up within seconds. “And don’t even pretend to not know how I know, I’m not dumb. Everyone that is smart enough to think about for more than five minutes and come up with some logical explanation can tell. You really should start lying about it, like you work in some designer shop or some shit.”

“Sure Seungmin, it’s that easy. Let’s just drop it, okay? I really hate arguing with you” the older rolled his eyes, and Seungmin sighed. Dropping the topic again. He really won’t be spilling the tea anytime soon, will he?

The clock on the wooden wall hit nine pm as Seungmin took a look at it. He sighed deeply, knowing that he has eight hours of classes tomorrow. He really needed to go, however the conversation about different types of ducks was really more than interesting if he was to compare it to his marketing class - the one he was starting with in the morning. He really didn’t want to continue this ordinary life anymore. It was more than tiring and boring - no challenges at all. The only thing other people call challenges are getting through college and getting a job after graduating. It was no challenge - if that was the definition of it, then the whole pattern of life was a challenge. 

But not the type of challenge that Seungmin was longing for.

Hands on the clock started moving at an insane speed, people were passing through, the light from the sun came right back, only to disappear a few seconds after. No matter how fast everything was going, how fast Seungmin was getting old, everything still stayed the same. Working a nine to five job, paying the bills, only to complain about the said work - of course, without doing anything to change it, because why? It brought money. Money, the imaginary thing that society just decided that should exist. Because people are selfish. They all want something in exchange for anything they do - it’s almost like in games produced by EA - sure, you can walk for free, but to jump, you have to buy a new DLC.

Seungmin truly hated the capitalistic world he was born into.

When he got home he threw his bag onto the floor, and kicked off his jeans, leaving himself only in t-shirt. He was hungry as hell, despite having a small meal in the cafe with Chan, so he microwaved some left-overs from yesterday’s dinner. He wasn’t so excited about his announcement anymore, it stopped being the thing he would rush to check right after returning home. 

He slowly ate his food, trying to enjoy it as much as he could - which unfortunately wasn’t much. It was just as tasteless as people who didn’t like the music of his favourite band. It’s not that everyone had to like things he did, life would be even more boring then, it was just that he really didn’t understand how someone could hate on this pure art.

Seungmin, after he ate and cleaned up, slowly made his way to his room, checking twitter for some news and stories from his mutuals. It made him forget about stuff for a few seconds, in the time he was invested in the story that somebody was telling.

He had a weird feeling in his guts all day - and he could tell that something was off, but he didn’t quite know what. Like something big was supposed to happen. He rarely gets any sort of feelings that he cannot explain - so that just doubled his confusion. What was supposed to happen? Something important? Something tragic? Something that would make him happier? He had absolutely no idea, and that kind of made him anxious. Seungmin hated not being in control, although not being able to control the situation was bringing him constant fear, which usually he associated with adrenaline. However, this kind of fear - was just too much for him. He didn’t know what was happening and it brought him such discomfort that he just wanted to scream and curl in a ball on the floor. 

The brunette cracked his knuckles and plopped down onto his swivel chair, turning his computer on, He laid his legs on the desk and proceeded to scroll through Twitter, waiting for the computer screen to finally show his desktop background - which, unsurprisingly, was Day6 - his favourite band. Seungmin finally got to go on the browser that led to the dark web, and typed in the site he was on everyday for the past week.

haruharv342: A game, huh? Do go on.

Seungmin’s eyes widened as he brought his hand to his open mouth.

It was happening.

It was really happening.

The message was sent just ten minutes ago, so the twenty-year old prayed to anyone who was listening, that this person was still on the site. He just wanted to get the game started. Patience was never one of his strengths. 

momong156: The rules are pretty simple. No gun can be involved, it would be too easy. I can’t kill you, however, I can fight. You cannot harm or talk to any of the people I’m close with to lure me in. Do you have anything else that should be considered?

haruharv342: I see you’re very serious about it, aren’t you? 

haruharv342: No authorities involved or telling anyone. 

momong156: Though that was an obvious one, but we can for sure include it.

momong156: Anything else?

haruharv342: No.

haruharv342: You’re gonna tell me your info or am I left to figure that out?

momong156: It’ll be more fun like that.

momong156: I’ll send you half of the money after you’ve confirmed that you know who I am. Good luck.

Seungmin grinned widely, experiencing the feeling he had longed for for such a long time - cold, shaky fingers, heart beating. He couldn’t believe it. He finally was going to have some fun, finally break the disgusting routine, finally get the adrenaline rushing through his veins, heart beating faster with each and every step, anxiety building up in his body every time he took a turn around the corner, being ready to get jumped on any second of the day. 

The brunette leaned at the back of his chair, throwing his head back. He exhaled the breath he was unconsciously holding and let out a maniac laugh. He really was going to die, and he enjoyed every second of it. The game of survival has officially started. Something made sense. No more useless capitalistic economics, no more unnecessary taxes, he didn’t have to worry about that. He was meant to die soon, and the best part? He was going to die in a rather unexpected, unusual way - not some type of heart attack, cancer or other shitty disease taking over his body. Someone was out there to take his life away - whether with a knife, a poison or maybe, something more creative - maybe he would be abducted, and then drowned? 

Oh, he couldn’t wait for how the events would turn out.

He spent another hour daydreaming about the upcoming events, trying not to hop around out of excitement (yes, Seungmin was not sane, by any means), however, the sudden sound coming from his phones threw him out of his thoughts. The twenty year old came back to reality and looked at his phone, the digital clock showing that it was nearly midnight. He checked his notifications, seeing new messages from an unknown number. He raised one eyebrow in question and opened the app, but before he could see what message he got, the same number started calling. He got even more confused, since, hey, it was midnight! Who on earth would call anyone at this hour?

“Hello?” Seungmin said, putting the person on the speaker, out of habit. 

“Well hello there, Kim Seungmin” He heard a distorted, deep voice, which made him shiver, “I’m awaiting your payment,” Kim smiled, knowing who was calling. Well, he didn’t really know that person, but he knew what was this person’s purpose in Seungmin’s life.

To be his last purpose.

“You could’ve just texted me the details, not calling me in the middle of the night,” he rolled his eyes. He wasn’t really angry, he knew he wouldn’t have fallen asleep until at least three am since he was too excited, but a little bit of drama always made things interesting, didn’t it?

“Ah, but you aren’t sleeping now, are you?” the person asked and the boy already took a little note about their personality - they really liked to use question tags, which made them seem slightly cocky, not that Seungmin minded that much. “ Well, I was really interested in you, Kim Seungmin, you see, not every twenty year old is thinking about a suicide game on a daily basis, as far as I know. I honestly thought you would be some bored, rich, old man with a twenty year younger wife and two kids, trying to get some fun other than fucking some sugar baby, but it turns out I was very, very mistaken,” the person sighed and laughed shortly, “Twenty year old, business college student, son of one of the most successful couple in South Korea, basically a fucking trust fund baby is just bored. We’re really spoiled, aren’t we?”

Spoiled. 

Seungmin absolutely despised that word.

Everyone that didn’t know him would call him exactly that, and he couldn’t even express how enraged he was every time this word was thrown at him. He may have had more money than an average kid, but he was in no way spoiled. He never really saw any outstanding worth in material things and didn’t like getting something without the feeling that it was really earned by him - not just some easy money from the biggest capitalism enthusiasts, his parents. 

“Wow, quite impressive, knowing all the dry facts within, what, three hours? You really do deserve a round of applause, baby had to show off how good they are at using their oh so special computer skills! Now, I would greatly appreciate it if you wouldn’t call me spoiled since all you know is the information that’s online, for everyone to see. Besides, what if I was spoiled? Would that be dirty money? Oh no, I guess it is either way, baby,” something in Seungmin sparked as the person on the other line scoffed. He really liked making people annoyed - it gave him a very weird satisfaction, especially when they knew how to fight back.

“Hm, I see you’re quite a fighter, aren’t you? It’s almost a pity it won’t last that long, Seungmin.”

“You would think that, hm? I assure you we’re gonna have plenty of fun, baby” The boy smiled cockily. 

“I will be looking forward to it, if you say so. However, I truly doubt you will survive the next twenty four hours.”

“Bet, baby,” Seungmin said and hung up, seeing the messages from a couple minutes ago pop up on his screen with the necessary information to make the mentioned payment. 

He quickly sent twenty two and a half million won to the right account and threw his phone onto his bed, right before he himself laid down on it. He did feel annoyed a little bit, but he knew the slight annoyance would pass away in a few minutes, but the thrill would stay until the very end. He knew that his chances to survive in the next day were exceedingly low, but he was determined to stay alive. If he’d lived through day one, the rest would be easier, since he would already get the grip of the killer’s little habits and their actions.

The worst part of day one is now. Night. 

He was a light sleeper, but he knew that when someone was skilled to be as silent as a mouse, he wouldn’t have heard. 

He downed the water from a glass on his nightstand and got up to close his door, putting the glass on the door handle - if someone were to get into his room, the glass would fall and shatter, creating a sound that would both wake up Seungmin and probably scare the hitman away. He doubted that on the first attempt they would try to gas him - it would probably take them a little bit more of fighting with him to get to know that he was not an easy target to kill.

All Seungmin had to do now is survive.


End file.
